A conventional component placement apparatus, component feeding device, and method of transport are known from the European Patent Application No. EP A2 0 883 333 (“the '333 Application”). The component placement apparatus according to the '333 Application comprises a component feeding device in which a carriage, which includes several slots for trays that contain electronic components, is movable in upward and downward directions. The component feeding device comprises a tray transporting device by means of which a tray located in a slot is movable in a horizontal direction to a pickup area. By means of a component pickup and placement device, a component is picked-up from the tray in the pickup area and transported to a desired location on a substrate. After one or more components are picked-up from the tray, the tray is placed back in the same slot. Subsequently, the carriage is moved in a vertical direction to align another slot, which includes another tray, with the tray transporting device.
A disadvantage of this component placement apparatus is that the removal of empty trays (as well as the insertion of new trays) can only take place if the carriage is temporarily stopped. During this time, no other tray can be placed in the pickup area, other than the tray that is located in the slot aligned with the tray transporting device. Moreover, safety measures need to be taken to prevent a new tray from being inserted in the slot aligned with the tray transporting device, else the tray located in the pickup area cannot be returned to the carriage. A main disadvantage of this conventional component placement apparatus, however, is that the time necessary to move the carriage upwards and downwards can be relatively long if, e.g., successively the upper, the lower, and again the upper tray are needed. Because of these time consuming movements of the carriage, the output of the component placement apparatus is relatively low.
What is needed, therefore, is an apparatus and a methodology that address at least one if not more of the deficiencies that afflict conventional practice, as previously described.